


Time is but a notion

by Pinkynishi



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2234235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinkynishi/pseuds/Pinkynishi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The Time Turners" is a worldwide police organization specialized in stopping illegal time travelling. They send their Time Agents in the past to stop these time travellers from messing with fixed events in time and creating alternate realities. Time Agents are forbidden to have prolonged contact with the people from the time they travel to but sometimes, it cannot be avoided. Relationships bloom, bonds are created.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time is but a notion

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY FUDGE this was something huge to write. I think I had the blank page syndrome for at least a month before this idea popped into my head. And thank God it did! I am SO glad with the way it turned out. First of all, a big thank you to masami93 for the awesome help :D Without her I wouldn’t’ve gotten as far :D This project made me meet someone awesome (well, we started talking before but she became a good friend so YAY) I still can’t believe I wrote this much. I tried to deliver the best I could! Supernatural, Time Travelling, Crime Solving & AU. (It doesn’t get more AU then this) Hope you enjoy :D Also, because this story is set in 2014 and it has to do with time travelling, there are A LOT of pop culture references.

Jin paced around the fountain for a while before he decided to sit down on one of the many yellow benches of the parc. He didn’t quite know what to do. Were his eyes messing with him? Was something actually wrong? Maybe the sun was blinding him and he was starting to see things.

He looked at his watch: it was only 9am. In other words, it was way too early to be freaking out.

He took out his phone and dialed the one number he knew by heart. As he waited for the line to connect, he kicked a couple of rocks around, creating a small hole in the dirt.

_“Hello?”_ a soft voice said from the other end of the line.

“Kazuya? It’s me,” he simply said, biting down on his lip.

_“Jin? What’s wrong?”_

”Nothing...I’m just wondering, where are you again?” 

_“I’m in Paris...why?”_

_Ah...that’s why he sounds tired. It’s 2 a.m. in Paris._

“I miss you, that’s all. You’re gone a lot these days.” He leaned back, letting his head rest on the wood of the bench.

_“I know...I’ll be back soon ok? I promise. And we’ll be able to take that vacation you’ve always wanted.”_

“Ok. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

_“It’s fine Jin, really. I love you. I’ll see you soon.”_

“I love you too. Sleep well.” 

He smiled at his phone and turned his attention to the boy he had been watching: he was sitting alone at a table near a café that was located on the other side of the street. He didn’t look like much, but Jin knew that he was up to something. He was dressed in dark jeans and a casual hoodie which was half-zipped over a baseball t-shirt. Sunglasses were resting on his nose and his shoes seemed way too expensive for his age. It could be that he was just some rich kid from the area, but Jin had a feeling in his gut that it was something more. He just couldn’t explain it. 

As he approached the boy, the kid turned and took his hood off along with his sunglasses and Jin stopped dead in his tracks: the boy looked exactly like Kazuya would’ve when he was 15 or 16.

The boy hadn’t noticed Jin yet so he stayed subtle about it, casually looking away and diverting his trajectory by just a bit so he could pass behind the teen. 

“There he is!” 

Like the many people on the street, Jin stopped and turned to look at the source of the scream and saw two men that were running in his direction. Actually, they were pointing in his direction too. He looked around and saw no one else and suddenly, he was scared. Had he pissed someone off? Maybe some random customer at his bar that he had refused to serve because he was already too drunk? 

Should he be running?

Uh-oh. They were getting closer.

He thought about running until he realized that the kid was hissing out a long line of swear words before bolting away, knocking Jin to the side while he did. Jin had wanted to say something, tell the kid to slow down but before he knew it, the kid had gone around a corner.   
Wow, he sure was fast. 

The two men dashed by him and disappeared around the corner, exactly where the other boy had gone, and that was it. 

The people around him went back to their activities but Jin was still frozen near the table the kid had been sitting at. He brushed his fingers over the wooden surface and his eyes caught a glimpse of something shiny underneath the table. He bent down and picked up what seemed to be a business card. 

Written on it was the address of the café and a time. 9:09 a.m. Jin looked at his watch and realized it was 9:06. Had the kid been too early for something? _Who in their right mind would write a time this specific anyways?_ He thought. 

He turned the card around and his suspicions only grew. The front of the card was black and on it, written in silver letters was: Agent 22020223-01, along with three golden Ts in the top left corner.

Why couldn’t he shake this feeling that something was wrong? That Kazuya was in danger for some reason...

He took out his phone and his thumb hovered over Kazuya’s picture. He wanted to call him but at the same time, what could he say?

_Hey babe, just asking, no pressure, are you really in Paris? Because I just saw your doppelganger in Tokyo._

Jin laughed as he closed his phone and stuffed it in his pocket along with the card. It was just a weird coincidence. He couldn’t wake up the other for _that_.

It had to be a coincidence, right?

Right.

They had been together for four years already. Sure they had had a weird start, what with Kazuya coming to Jin’s bar claiming he knew him but it was a bit too late to show how easily he could get paranoid.

Kazuya came home in the middle of the night the next day. As always, he was careful not to wake Jin up when he slid into bed to hug him but, as always, Jin woke up requiring kisses, hugs, and general attention. Kazuya didn’t mind, he would do the same if it was the other way around. They talked for an hour after that, about what happened at the bar Jin works at, about what Kazuya ate in Paris (not enough, according to Jin), and about general news. For them, not seeing each other for 3 days was like a week.

Jin hadn’t mentioned a word to him about his _supernatural_ encounter. It was still on his mind though, constantly nagging him to say something.

But what was there to say? He still hadn’t figured it out. 

Like Kazuya had promised, they were able to skip town for a few days and relax. It had been a while for them and Jin was grateful that Kazuya had been allowed to take a few days for himself. It was nice, it was different. But of course, it couldn’t last. 

Who knew that being a flight attendant was so demanding? Sure, Kazuya could travel the world but the longest he had been home was 5 days. Jin had known from the beginning what he was getting into, Kazuya had told him that he wasn’t home much, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was second in line. 

~

One night, Jin settled in front of his computer and Googled “TTT” along with the word “Agent”. Kazuya was out of town again: one of the flight attendants had called in sick and he had agreed to take her place. So he was alone. He had been cleaning out his wallet out of sheer boredom and he had found the card the kid had dropped a month ago. Maybe looking this up would keep him occupied. He clicked on every available link but only incomplete articles came out, and none of them seemed to be legitimate research. They were only people like him that had had an encounter with an agent and that wanted answers. The words that came out the most were: time, agent, law, mystery, and supernatural. Jin didn’t understand any of it.

Were these people talking about time travelling? Were they nuts?

He checked the time and closed his laptop with annoyance. It was already 2a.m. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep right now, so he got up, grabbed his keys and headed outside for a well-deserved walk to clear his head.

The air was cold on his skin but he didn’t mind. He kept his hands in the pockets of his vest and walked with no general destination in mind. 

The only lighting in the area came from the streetlights, but they didn’t make much of a difference. They barely produced enough light to see the other end of the street, let alone the buildings that flanked it. It made the street look gloomy but Jin had lived here for the greater part of his life, he knew it like the back of his hand. If anything happened, he would know where to go.

He walked for well over 10 minutes before finally hearing something. People, actually. Laughing. And footsteps. At first he thought that it may be drunk youngsters but in this area, it wasn’t likely. He saw a kid dash by him and a moment later, four men. Upon turning the corner, he saw the kid beat two of them up, jumping on them and kicking like in karate movies. For a second there, Jin was sure that the kid had teleported himself because he was now behind the men and he had no idea how the kid had managed to get there. One moment he was on the left, the other he was on the right. The kid was quick, he could give him that. He had actually managed to get two of the guys to punch each other. It was so impressive that Jin had to look around him, afraid that he might’ve been in the middle of a movie set. 

The kid was fucking amazing, jumping off walls and defending himself against the others.

_Wait_

A _kid_ was being attacked, shouldn’t he be doing something?

The moment he saw the kid being pinned to a wall, he decided that he should in fact do something. Even if he knew that he probably didn’t stand a chance. 

Jin took a deep breath and grasped his cell phone, just in case he would have to call the police, which was probably going to happen, and marched towards them. “Hey!” He shouted, crossing the road, not even taking the three seconds that were needed to look on both sides of the road. “Live the kid alone!”

The bullies looked at each other and then at Jin, “Huh?” one laughed. “You talkin’ to us, _impar_?” 

Jin ignored the foreign word and stopped a meter or so away from them and crossed his arms. “I don’t know, am I?” he asked them.

The man holding the kid up turned to face him, letting the kid slide against the wall and slump down to the ground, letting out a pained moan as he did. He cracked his knuckles and stood next to the other three. “What did you say, _impar_? ‘You messin’ with us?”

“Boss, we’re not supposed to meddle with the _impar_. Just the kid.”

“Fuck off, just the kid? This... _impar_ ,” he gestured Jin with both his hands, “is coming in between us and the kid.”

Jin stood his ground, decided on helping the kid. His hand was still grasping his phone, ready to be used any second. 

Hopefully, if he had to call the cops, they would think of bringing the medics too because he was 99% sure that he wouldn’t walk away from this with no injuries. 

Thankfully, that last 1% came to his aid and all of their watches lit up blue. Jin could only stare in confusion, wondering what was going on as the tallest of the four swore and pressed the panel that was lit and brought it closed to his mouth. “Yeah?” he spat. Was it some kind of new phone gimmick? He’d seen the commercials but he didn’t know anyone that owned one.

“Time’s up. You have to come home,” the disembodied woman's voice said.

The man swore again and slammed his hand on his watch, turning the light off. They spared one glance in Jin’s direction before bolting off. Jin would’ve run after them but his top priority was the kid and, well, he was fairly sure that they were more dangerous than they seemed, especially after the fight scene he had just witnessed. . 

Jin let out a shaky breath and walked to the kid and kneeled down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey-” he whispered. “Hey, are you ok?” He examined him, patting his head a bit and was relieved to see that there was no apparent bleeding.

The boy finally raised his head and Jin had to bite down on his tongue as he saw his face. He swallowed hard and tried not to panic. Was he hallucinating or did the kid really look like Kazuya? He shook the thought away as the brown eyes were looking at him as if he were an alien and he decided that a smile was in order. “Are you ok?” he repeated.

“Yeah, um.” The kid placed a hand to his right temple and massaged it a bit. “Ow- yeah. Thanks.” He pushed himself up from the ground, grabbing the arm Jin had offered to help to support him. “Thank you, for helping.” He passed his hands through his hair, bringing them back up in soft spikes and he looked around. 

“Of course.” Jin still couldn’t shake the thought that this kid looked like Kazuya. Same nose...same lips... “Are you sure you’re ok? Will they be back?” 

The kid looked at his watch before looking at Jin again. “No. I’m safe now. Thank you, again. I was separated from my mentor and-” His eyes widened and he backed away from Jin. “It’s nothing thank you.”

“Are you sure?” he insisted. “It’s pretty late. What are you doing out here all by yourself?”

“Me?” The kid laughed. “You’re by yourself too. It’s dangerous for you too.”

Jin let out a chuckle. Yeah, that was the kind of joke Kazuya did too. “I’m 27. I can manage on my own. You’re what, 11?”

“13!” the kid spat out, insulted that Jin thought he looked younger. “And...I can take care of myself, thanks,” he said looking at his watch again and swore when he finally saw that it was cracked. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered under his breath. He bit down on his lip and looked around. 

“Do you need to use a phone?” Jin dug his cellphone out of his pocket and handed it to the boy. 

The boy hesitated a bit, biting down on his lower lip before taking it and dialing numbers. “Thank you…” he muttered, before placing the phone to his ear and turning ever so slightly away from Jin. He coughed once, clearing his throat and pressed the dial button. 

Jin saw the boy listen to the voice on the other end and press a few keys before he finally spoke up. “2 2 0 2 0 2 2 3 dash 0 1,” he said into the phone. He didn’t want to invade in the boy’s privacy but Jin could’ve sworn that he had heard those numbers somewhere. “It’s me,” the boy said. “I don’t know where to go, my watch is busted, yeah um, yeah. What? Oh...It was Rei. He found me and - yeah” The boy looked back at Jin and turned away again. “I don’t know, some guy. Rei? No his time was up. Thank God, right?” he laughed. “You want me to what? It’s 3 am! Where am I supposed to stay? Yeah…” He turned to Jin again. “Yeah.” He sighed and held the phone towards Jin. “Here,” he muttered. 

Jin’s eyes widened and he didn’t know what to do, the boy shook the phone in front of him and mouthed “Take it!” and so he took it, placing it against his ear. “He-Hello?” he managed to mutter. 

“Good evening! My name is Sakura and I’m Kazu’s caretaker. May I have your name please?”

“Uh... Jin,” he hesitated, “Akanishi Jin. And wait, Kazu? Who’s Kazu?”

The kid rolled his eyes and shrugged, clearly embarrassed. “I cannot believe she’s using that name oh my God.”

Jin frowned as he saw the kid’s reaction but listened to the woman nonetheless. “Oh, my apologies, Kazuya. The boy you saved? Thank you, by the way. We’re still trying to figure out what happened to his mentor, he’s not normally on his own. Would you mind letting him stay with you until noon...today? We will arrange for a pick-up”

Still in shock upon hearing the boy’s name, Jin could only stare. “Uh-huh,” he said skeptically, his eyes glued on _Kazuya_. “Wait what?” His mind finally registered the conversation but it was too late, the woman was already thanking him. 

“We’ll call an hour before we pick him up to get the address. Thank you.” 

The woman hung up and Jin placed his phone back in his pocket. “So...I guess you’re coming with me?”

“I guess,” the kid answered. 

“I um, I’m Jin.” Jin held out his hand and the boy shook it. 

“Kazuya,” he answered back, even though he knew that Jin already knew his name.

“Yeah...listen, isn’t it weird...you don’t know me…”

“Na. It’s fine. I really appreciate it by the way...I hope you don’t mind...I just don’t have anywhere else to go. I’m not from here.”

“Yeah, no it’s fine. Yeah...You’re right. Follow me.” 

“You know you said “yeah” three times in two sentences?” 

Jin glared down at the kid, noticing more and more how he resembled Kazuya. “You know you swear like a sailor?”

The kid puffed out his cheeks. “Fuck off”

He knew he would regret this. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it.

\--

He led Kazuya to his place and showed him around, trying to push back the feeling of déjà-vu. He had done this tour with Kazuya four years ago and he actually felt like he was repeating himself word for word. The kid even completed some of his sentences at some point.

“Oh hey,” the kid said, stopping in front of one of the paintings that were in Jin’s dining room. “That looks like a -”

“Chicken?” Jin finished, cutting him off without realizing it.

Kazuya’s jaw hung low before he smiled. “Yeah, actually. How did you know I was going to say that?”

Jin bit down on the insides of his cheeks. This was getting too weird. “I get the comment every now and then.” _He lied._ , remembering clearly that Kazuya, his Kazuya, had been the one that had bought it in the first place when they had gone shopping.

“Oh.” Kazuya let out a laugh and glanced one last time at the odd painting before following Jin. 

“Bathroom is on your left if you want to get washed up, I’ll get you a toothbrush and a fresh towel. Wait here.”

“Ok...thank you.” Kazuya set foot and turned around to face him once more. “Really, thank you. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if you hadn’t been there.”

\--

_”You mean so much to me Jin, you have no idea how much.” Kazuya placed a hand on Jin’s cheek and a kiss on the other one._

_“Kazuya, why are you always so vague?” Jin asked in a low voice, his nose brushing against Kazuya’s._

_“I’ll tell you, one day.”_

\--

Was it all starting to make sense? What Kazuya had said a few years back?

“Are you ok? You seem quite pale…”

“Huh?” Jin eyes widened and he looked at Kazuya, his lips tightly sealed and he nodded. “Yeah. Yes. I’ll be right back.”

While Jin was rummaging through his drawers, Kazuya took off his shirt and hung it on the hook that was behind the bathroom door. He was uneasy but he didn’t want to show it. He was taking off his rings when Jin appeared at the door again.

“Here, hold out your arms,” Jin told him. Kazuya did as he was told and Jin placed a towel in them, along with sweatpants, a t-shirt and a toothbrush. “The clothes might be a bit big. They belong to my room-mate but he’s smaller than me.”

“Thank you,” Kazuya muttered, re-adjusting the pile in his arms.

“No problem.” Jin smiled back at him. “I’ll go make your bed in the living room.” 

As the kid nodded and turned around to place the pile of things on top of the counter, Jin couldn’t help but stare at his back, something had caught his attention: the boy had a mole on his shoulder. At the exact same place as Kazuya, his Kazuya… The situation was starting to really mess with his head. 

He shook the thought away and made his way to the living room, taking the cushions off the couch to then pull on the bottom and lift it to turn the couch into the futon that it was. He got fresh sheets out of the linen pantry, along with one of his spare pillows and made the bed. After flattening out the wrinkles in the sheets, he headed back to his room and sat on the edge of his own bed and placed his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands.

What was going on?

Who was this person? 

He was awakened by the sounds of chirping birds _right_ outside his window. Somehow, he had fallen asleep, burdened by his thoughts. He couldn’t even remember at what time he had succumbed to his heavy eyes and the worst part was: he had slept in his clothes _and_ above the covers of his bed. The clock indicated 10:30 but he still felt like it was dawn. 

He tiptoed out of his room and saw that Kazuya was still fast asleep on the futon, curled up in a ball, the blanket brought up to his nose. 

_Exactly like Kazuya sleeps,_ he thought. He crept back to the kitchen and made himself a well-deserved coffee. Maybe that would start his day well. 

He had just taken his first sip when a barely awake youth dragged his feet into dining room, floating in Kazuya’s Hanshin Tigers t-shirt and the sweatpants low on his hips. 

“Is everything Ok?” 

Jin swallowed hard as he took in what he was seeing but he couldn’t muster up any words. The kid looked exactly like his Kazuya...and now that he was in his clothes, he was even more similar. “Yeah, no. I’m fine. I’m just exhausted. Did you sleep well?” 

“I did, thank you.” Kazuya sat on the chair at the opposite of Jin and bit down on his lip before speaking up. “I know I’ve said this before but...you’re really really pale. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Jin let out a nervous laugh and placed down his newspaper. “Yeah...I kind of did, I guess. You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Try me.”

He laughed again, turning his head ever so slightly, only to face Kazuya. “You are the spitting image of someone I know and it’s really messing with my head,” he told him. 

“Ok...” The boy frowned but a bit but he didn’t add to it.

“Obviously he’s older, he’s 26 actually but you look like he would’ve looked when he was 13. I’m positive.”

Kazuya laughed. “That’s what’s bothering you?”

“No...What’s bothering me is that you have the same name: _Kazuya_.” Jin gulped. “And he also has a mole on his right shoulder.” 

Jin didn’t miss it, the change of emotions in the boy’s face. Something was wrong. He was right to have doubts. 

The kid let out breath that was mixed with a laugh and fiddled with the hem of his shirt, avoiding Jin’s gaze. “That’s one hell of a coincidence. How could we be the same person, right? I’m him and he’s me. I was born in 2001.”

Jin pursed his lips. He wasn’t convinced. Not at all. “When is your birthday?”

“June 11th,” he answered immediately.

“Your least favourite vegetable?”

“Carrots.”

Jin frowned. The boy was answering his questions way too quickly for his taste. He had one last card up his sleeve to get the truth out of the boy. One last word he had yet to pronounce. 

“Kazuya… _Kamenashi_.” The word slithered out of his mouth and had a huge effect on the other.

“No,” the other corrected immediately. “My last name is Ishida.” He held Jin’s gaze as long as he could but Jin didn’t buy it. The kid groaned. “My name is Kazuya Ishida!” he insisted. “I was born on June 11th 2001 in New Tokyo! I’m 13!” 

“ _New_ Tokyo?”

“Fuck,” the other hissed, burying his face in his hands.

“Oh my god.” Jin got up and started to pace, his hands in the air. “It all makes sense now. Why he’s never here. Oh my god,” he repeated. Jin turned to face the boy again, feeling like the world _finally_ made sense now. He had so many questions. But, as fate would have it, his phone began to buzz in his pocket. 

Of course.

As he expected, it was Kazuya’s caretaker, asking for his address to come pick him up. He finished his conversation and sat back down in front of Kazuya. “Tell me everything.”

“Wh...what do you mean?”

“I did some research last night. Granted I didn’t find much, but still.”

“I’m confused.”

“A month ago or so, I think I saw you, well...future you...but it was in the past, anyways. I think I saw you and you dropped a card on which three silver Ts were written. What do they mean?”

“I- what? What on Earth are you talking about?”

“The Future!” Jin nearly shouted. “You’re obviously from the future! All those posts on the Internet, I thought they were crazy! Time travel and stuff like that!”

“Look...you’ve got this all wrong.”

“Please.” He got up and picked up what seemed to be a photo album from the bookcase in the living room, took out a picture and slid it across the table with the tips of his fingers. “Kamenashi Kazuya, born in 1988 on February the 23rd. Obviously he...well...you...I guess... lied about his, I mean your birth year but I’ll ignore that for now.”

The kid didn’t respond. He simply took the picture in his hands and looked at it. “Huh…” he said in a voice that was barely audible. “I actually get rid of my bushy eyebrows at some point.” He whispered, half to himself, amazed by how he would look in the future. 

“It’s not like you shed out of them,” Jin explained with a little laugh. “You actually started to groom them.” 

“You really think we’re the same person?” he asked Jin, his eyes still on the picture.

“With what you told me...I’m positive. Now, tell me everything.” 

“I guess there’s no harm…” The boy placed the picture down and cleared his throat, nervously biting the skin around his right thumb. “The three Ts represent “The Time Turners.” It’s a worldwide police organization that goes after illegal time travelers...like Rei that you saw a while ago. He’s in a business that kidnaps babies from the future and brings them to parents here. You’d think that it’s a good thing but he just takes the babies but they’re not orphans. My mentor and I followed him here, Rei, but we were too late. As soon as the baby is in the arms of his or her parents to be, it’s over. Before that, their memories can be changed...and the kid can be brought back to the right time.”

“Aren’t you a little bit short to be a time traveler?”

“I’m 13!” the kid protested with a pout. “I’m in training!”

“How far away is this...um, future anyways?”

“Well, I was born in 2202. So that gives you an idea I guess. We have documents that tell us what has to happen and what can be manipulated. Obviously, some of the big disasters were actually caused by time travelers but that’s a whole other story and it’s super confusing.”

“So...Are you like the Doctor?”

“Doctor who?”

“Yeah. Like Doctor Who.”

“No I mean, who? Who are you talking about?”

“About _The_ Doctor. Are you like him? To you have a Tardis to travel through time?”

The boy blinked a few times, his lips pursed and his head shaking slightly from left to right. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the reference.”

“Never mind...I guess. So...Illegal adoption from the future, that’s a thing?”

“Well...for the people here it’s all legit. The companies run by time travelers are well set and everything is legal.”

“Huh. Wow. This is a lot to take in.” He chuckled. 

“Should you be telling me all of this?”

“I suppose not but it doesn’t matter...” the boy said, looking down at his feet.

Jin wanted to ask more questions but a knock at the door made him retract them. He got up, Kazuya close behind him, and opened the door, only to reveal an Asian woman and a white man with blond hair, both dressed in black. “Woah,” Jin let out in a short breath.

“Mr. Akanishi, I suppose?” the woman said, tilting her body ever so slightly to the side to confirm that Kazuya was there, his bag already in his arms. “Thank you for taking care of Kazuya.”

Jin frowned as she lifted up her arm, her hand opened. Was she expecting a high-five? Was this some kind of futuristic greeting? He squinted when a metal rod appeared from under her sleeve. “That will be all.” She pressed the tip of her middle finger down on the stick thing and a white mist was sprayed in Jin’s face, making him cough and gasp for air, trying to spit out the awful taste.

“What the hell was -” And before he was able to finish his sentence, his knees buckled, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body went limp. He would’ve fallen to the ground if the guy that was there for Kazuya hadn’t caught him. 

“I suppose he knew too much?” the woman said. 

“Yeah. I figured you would do that anyways. He said he was at his computer last night, doing some research on the company before he went outside. If you sit him there he’ll think it was a dream...well...what he remembers of it. “ The man nodded and walked past Kazuya to sit Jin down.

“Do you think he troubled your future?” the woman asked Kazuya.

Kazuya bit down on the inside of his cheeks and shook his head. “No,” he lied. “Just general weirdness. But that’s to be expected, right?”

“Good boy,” she said, passing a hand through his hair. “Are we all set here Pierre?” She placed the picture Kazuya had given her in Jin’s hand and turned back to Pierre.

“Yes,” he answered, re-arranging the pillows on the futon. “I folded the sheets and placed them in his pantry. We’re good to go.”

\--

Jin woke up an hour later, his heart pounding in his chest. He sat up straight and checked his surroundings. He was on edge but he didn’t know why. All he knew was that he was 99% sure that the keys of his keyboard had been plastered on his cheek. 

He looked around his place, feeling that something was missing but it was just as he had left it before falling asleep at his computer, _again_. The cushions were neatly placed on his futon, the kitchen was spick and span and as always, his bed was made. Nothing was out of place. It had only been a weird dream. 

He laughed to himself... and slightly at himself. How paranoid was he becoming to actually believe that time travel existed?

All that research had really gone to his head. 

He placed the palm of his hand against his chin and turned his head to the side a few times, getting out a couple of cracking noises.

And to his neck, apparently. 

He would need to catch up on his sleep or else work would be a pain.

Kazuya came home the same night and Jin told him all about his crazy dream, that he had been having those for quite a while now. The younger boy simply laughed along with Jin, reminding him every few minutes that he really needed to go out and meet people. 

“I mean,” Kazuya started. “How crazy would that be, right? _Me_ a time traveler?” He laughed again and Jin almost spit out his drink.

“I know! It’s crazy! To think seeing some kid that looked like you a month ago would affect me _this_ much. And, seriously, the dream I had was so vivid! It was like I was actually talking to a 13 year old version of you!” 

Kazuya placed his drink down on the coffee table and pushed Jin’s chest down with the tips of his fingers. “Well, I can assure you that I’m not a 13 year old boy.”

“Mhm. Oh I believe you.” Jin let himself be pushed down on the couch, his hands finding their way around Kazuya’s waist and a smile creeping on his lips. “You’re not 13, not.at.all,” he said, stressing every single word with a smile pulling at his lips.

Kazuya’s hands found themselves in Jin’s hair and he placed his lips against Jin’s, inviting him into a feverish kiss. 

\--

For a month, Kazuya was almost always home. His job was finally giving him a well-deserved break and Jin had him (almost) to himself. He left twice during the month but he always came home the night after, sometimes going to the bar Jin worked at to walk with him after work. 

For weeks, Jin didn’t think about his dream. After all, it had all been a dream, right? He had placed card the kid dropped back a month ago in March in his wallet and hadn’t touched it since.. April was almost over, already, and to Jin, that only meant one thing: 4 weeks off of work. 6 more days and he’d be off for 20. He couldn’t wait. 

It was almost 4am when Jin walked out of the bar he worked at: Aozora Pub. He was as happy as can be. Even if his customers had been total idiots, they hadn’t managed to take the smile off his face once. 

Maybe that helped with the quantity of tips he received during the evening…

He was almost home when Kazuya’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. The man was probably talking on the phone on the balcony. But who would call at this hour? Jin shrugged and turned the corner of his street, only to see two people chatting in a low voice near the streetlight. It wasn’t Kazuya and there was no one on his balcony.

He observed them for a while longer, trying to listen to their conversation. He couldn’t help it, he was curious. The younger of the two, about 18 years old, looked extremely similar to Kazuya. Though his face was slimmer and his hair was longer and a fringe was covering a small portion of the left side of his face. In general, he was more petite than his Kazuya but he looked like him nonetheless.

_Talk about Déjà-vu_. He thought as he analyzed the boy’s features. 

What were they talking about? He could barely hear. He took another step forward, leaning against a tree.

“Kazuya, you’ve been doing good.”

_Kazuya?!_

“The board is very pleased with you. They’d like to see how you would do on your own. Don’t look back anymore.”

“You serious?! Wow that’s amazing!” the kid said as he jumped a bit, the other man putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him. 

“Shhh.” He looked around and Jin had to hide himself better behind a tree so he wouldn’t be spotted. He held his breath and waited for the two to start talking. “Not so loud boy,” the elder man said. “ _Impars_ could be listening.”

“You know, I never liked that term,” the younger one said, his arms crossed over his chest.

The other scoffed at Kazuya’s reaction and Jin could almost hear the guy roll his eyes. “Of course you don’t. You’re obsessed with them.” 

“They’re just like us. Calling them _impar_...calling them inferior is insulting. They live in 2014, they are our history. They aren’t inferior,” he said firmly. 

“Right, right, _impar_ equality. Let’s go home Kazuya, you need your rest.”

After 30 seconds of not hearing anything, Jin finally peeked from behind the tree he was hiding: There was no one there anymore! He would’ve heard them walk away...at least! 

They were nowhere in sight. It was almost like Jin had imagined it all. 

These episodes of déjà-vu were seriously starting to annoy him. He couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore.

As soon as he got home, he grabbed a permanent marker and wrote the word “impar” in his palm. That way, he’d know it had happened. He wouldn’t get fooled again by a silly dream. Not this time. 

He went to bed a few minutes later but he was convinced that if he slept, he would forget. He fought and fought against his drowsiness but, in the end, it had the upper hand and he fell asleep.

Once again, he was visited by weird images in his dream. In this one, four different Kazuyas were lined up. One was a kid, another was a teen and the two others didn’t seem that far apart in age but Jin guessed that one was 21-ish and the other was the Kazuya that he knew, the Kazuya who was 26. They didn’t say anything to him, they just stood there and looked at him with their arms crossed and smiles across their faces. 

When he woke up later in the day, he had to really think about what he had seen. Was it a dream like last time or had it really happened? Had he actually slept? Or had he simply blinked? 

He looked down at the palm of his left hand: the word _impar_ had been written in bold black letters. 

Ok. It _had_ happened. 

But what actually happened? He couldn’t tell. 

Apparently, he couldn't go a month without something weird appearing to fuck with his life.

His eyes felt heavy and so did his limbs, he would never be able to get up in this condition. 

_So…_ He thought. _Time travel is real…_

He stayed in bed the whole day, questioning everything he had heard in the wee hours of the morning. He didn’t bother to get up... not to eat, not to shower. He didn’t even answer his phone when it started to buzz on the nightstand. His brain was swimming with the concept of time travel and he just couldn’t wrap his mind around the whole idea. It was all too familiar. Like something he had forgotten. It was giving him a headache to think about it but he couldn’t think about anything else.

“Jin?” 

He didn’t respond to the voice that echoed in his apartment, it was probably a figment of his imagination, like everything else that was happening. 

He knew he had it too good. He was too happy. As a kid, his parents had always been there to support him and they hadn’t been mad when he decided to take on the management of a pub with a friend. He had it too good and he was paying for it. Maybe all of this was actually in his head, maybe he was in a mental institution and this was the “world” he had created to keep himself sane. 

Yeah. That sounded about right.

“Jin! Answer your fucking phone when I call you!” the voice said again, closer than last time.. 

He took a deep breath. “You’re not real,” he said, half muttering it out. He heard a groan next to him and the next he knew was that he was being pinched on the inside of the arm. “OW. What was that for?!” he shrieked, now sitting up straight in his bed, face to face with a clearly pissed off Kazuya.

“Why the _fuck_ didn’t you answer your _fucking_ phone?!” he shouted, taking the phone from nightstand and throwing it onto Jin’s bed, making it bounce and land on the other side. “I was worried sick!” 

Jin stared at Kazuya without blinking for a while. He didn’t know how to react anymore. He felt sick to his stomach, thinking about how he didn’t know who this Kazuya was anymore, thinking that he was hiding a huge secret from him. His racing mind was making him nervous and a cold sweat covered his body. He felt sick and lost. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to say.

“Jin? What’s wrong?” The features on Kazuya’s face immediately softened as he noticed how unusually quiet Jin was being. He sat down on the edge of the bed and cupped Jin’s face with both of his hands. “Babe what’s wrong?” he asked, trying to compare Jin’s body temperature to his own. Jin simply lazily looked back at him, his eyelids closing heavily over his eyes and coming back up just as slowly. “Jin, talk to me,” the younger demanded. “Please.” 

“I um…” He cleared his throat, he hadn’t talked since he had left work in the morning and the sleepless night had clearly taken its toll on him. “Are you from like, the future?”

Kazuya looked at Jin with furrowed brows. “What?” He let out a small laugh before placing his right hand on Jin’s face. “Jin what are you talking about.”

Jin took Kazuya’s hand into his and stared right into his eyes. “Remember my dream? The one where I dreamt you were from the future and you were here as a little kid?”

“I think, yeah.”

“I’m starting to think it wasn’t a dream. I had another...encounter this morning, while coming home from work.”

“Jin you’re making it sound like you were taken by aliens,” Kazuya said with a soft chuckle. 

“Kazuya I’m serious, I came across two guys that were talking about this.” He showed his left palm to Kazuya and the boy had to squint to be able to read the writing. After all, he hadn’t been expecting roman letters.

“Im...Im...par?” He read, adding a hint of hesitation to his pronunciation. 

Jin was now looking at him with wide eyes, eyebrows raised high on his forehead. “Does it sound...familiar to you?” he asked, leaning forward to inspect Kazuya’s every feature.

Kazuya, who was leaning in the opposite direction, could only look at him with a raised brow. “Jin, did you sleep at all last night?”

“No sir,” he answered immediately, his bloodshot eyes wide open. “So, are you from the future? ‘Cause I mean, that would explain why you’re always out of town. To make it believable and stuff.”

“Jin, I work for an airline...as a steward. Of course I’m out of town a lot. Is this what’s bothering you? Because you knew I would be gone a lot Jin…We talked about this...”

“So you’re not from the future?”

“Jin, that’s crazy. How can you possibly think that time travel is possible? You’re exhausted. The things you heard, they’re all going straight to your head, messing with you.” He helped the elder under the blankets and placed a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll go get you a glass of water. Ok?”

“Mm.” 

By the time Kazuya had come back with the glass of water, Jin was fast asleep. He placed the glass down on the nightstand and turned off the vibration of Jin’s phone before exiting the room.

\-- 

Being the good boyfriend that he was, Kazuya had taken off work for a few days to stay with Jin while he got back on his feet. They talked about his dreams, agreeing that they were in fact weird but they didn’t dig much deeper. Jin had decided to keep his encounter with the two men to himself. As far as Kazuya knew, he had only heard the men discussing word _impar_. Not the fact that he had seen a younger version of Kazuya _again_. 

Jin had had a feeling that Kazuya would’ve shot him down again, telling him that he had imagined it. 

But he knew what was real now. 

He knew that he had heard people talk about the future like they knew what was coming. He had had his doubts about Kazuya as well, but upon calling EoAir, the Airline Kazuya worked for, he didn’t know anymore. He had called them right after he had dropped Kazuya off for work and they confirmed the flights he would be on. The one going to Korea and the one coming back in a day or so. Every info they gave him matched the ones Kazuya had given him so he could keep track of his flights.

\--

He left home barely three minutes after being back. It was lunch time and nothing in his house was tempting. He locked the doors and after double checking to make sure he had his wallet with him, he headed out, already thinking about what meal he wanted. 

Italian?

Greek?

American?

Yeah. He was in the mood for a really good American bacon cheeseburger. 

He was only thinking about it and his stomach was grumbling. He shyly placed a hand over it, hoping that the other pedestrians wouldn’t hear it but, as luck would have it, he was alone on the street. 

But it was only when he was on the other side of the road that he realized that he was really _alone_. There was no car in sight, no man, no woman. There was the occasional bird but that was it, until a small flock suddenly flew out of a tree, heading high into the sky. _What’s the hurry?_ He thought as he watched them fly away as if they were late for something. He frowned.

Had they sensed a shift in the air that he hadn’t? 

His doubts were answered when he was knocked over by a woman who was seemingly in as much of a hurry as the birds to get the hell away from the area. “HEY, WATCH IT,” he shouted to the woman, massaging his sore shoulder. “Man, people need to get some manners around here,” he whined. Where had she come from anyways? There was no alley and the street had been deserted.

He was about to shrug it off and go forth towards his restaurant but a second figure was suddenly running in his direction, clearly chasing after the woman. “DUCK!” the man shouted. 

Jin eyes widened as he saw that the man was holding up a gun and he did as he was told, almost throwing himself to the ground as a beam of light shot over his head, missing him by just a millimeter. 

After feeling a gust of air pass right over him, Jin lifted his gaze and he watched the man run to the woman that had bumped into him earlier. Obviously, he landed the shot, missing Jin by a hair. Literally. Jin got to his feet, patted down his clothes of the dust and joined the two. “Is everything ok?”

“It’s fine. You can move along,” the man kneeling said firmly, scanning the other with a gimmick on his watch. She was on the ground, her eyes closed and Jin couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not. It made his blood run in his veins, he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“Hey um-” Jin couldn’t remember his sentence anymore. The other had turned to look at him and his mind exploded, once more. This had to be a joke, right? “Ka-Kazuya?” The world really _was_ messing with him. Wasn’t it? He grabbed the boy’s face with both hands, ignoring the mumbling sounds the other was making, and inspected every inch of his face. 

“I’m sorry, who are you?” the other muttered, his mouth slightly stretched by Jin’s hands.

Upon seeing the confusion on the younger’s face, Jin let him go and stood up straight, backing up just a bit. “Sorry,” he mumbled. 

“We had the place evacuated, how are you here?” he snapped.

“I uh, I just wanted a burger,” Jin simply answered, pointing the restaurant behind him. He bent down and took a closer look at the boy’s face, obviously making the other uncomfortable to a point where he was becoming red without knowing why. “Kazuya, what are you doing here? I thought you had work,” Jin tried, letting his mind believe that Kazuya worked for an airline.

“This...this is my work,” the boy said, gesturing the body.

“Killing is your job?”

“What? No! She’s paralyzed. I stunned her.”

“Oh like in Star Trek?”

“Star Trek?”

“Yeah they have guns that can either kill or stun.” Jin demonstrated what he meant by making a fake gun out of his hands but it didn’t help the other understand what he meant. Not one bit.

“I’m sorry I still don’t understand the reference. Who are you?”

_Oh, what the hell._

Jin held out his hand for the boy to take. “Akanishi Jin. I believe we met a while ago, you were thirteen I think. I have no idea how old you are now though. Kazuya...Ishida, right?” If the boy answered to the name that would mean his dream had been real. Unless his previous theory was real, that this world was made up and he was in a psych ward, four white walls around him and only a bed to sit on.

“I um, yeah. Ishida.” The boy took Jin’s hand and shook it, still confused. “I have to admit that your name rings a bell.”

“Wait…” He took his wallet out of his back pocket and took a card out, the card he had found on the ground back in March, handing it to the boy. “Maybe this will ring it louder?” 

Kazuya’s eyes widened as his gaze settled on card. “How did you get this?” he said with a shaky voice, looking at Jin and then at the card again. He turned it again and again in his hand. “How did you get this.” He repeated in a harsher tone, surprising Jin a bit.

“You dropped it,” Jin explained, his hands settled in his pockets. “I found it on the ground and I kept it, did a little bit of research and...then I found you again.”

“You _found_ me again? What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’ve been seeing you around a lot these days, _Kamenashi_.” The younger man’s eyes grew wide and he stood up straight in front of Jin. 

“How do you even know that name,” he asked, the words slithering out of his mouth with a hiss, his hands fisted on each side of his body.

Jin knew how Kazuya’s anger went. How he could sometimes have the emotional range of a 4 year old. One moment he’s pissed and wants to punch a hole through a wall, and the other he’s all laughs and giggles. It wasn’t his first time seeing him _this_ upset. Although he didn’t quite know how to deal with it, with time, he had learned that becoming just as mad was no help and sometimes, it could result in book throwing.

Thankfully, there were no books around, but Jin knew that Kazuya could and would find something to throw if he really wanted to. 

Again, Jin took out his wallet, his eyes still on Kazuya, and he took out the picture that he kept behind the protective plastic. Putting his wallet back in his back pocket, he handed the picture over to Kazuya.

After a few seconds, the boy glances down and the tension in his shoulders immediately disappeared. “Now I know that they tried to make me forget that we met. I understand why they did it. Albeit it didn’t work. I thought it was all a dream, but if that was a dream, it means I’m dreaming right now. And I don’t think I’m sleeping.”

It took a while, but Jin’s word sank in. “I, I uh.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll be right back.” 

The boy stuffed the picture in his pocket, pressed a button on his watch and placed a hand on the woman’s arm. 

The next thing Jin knew, was that, with a flicker of a light, the boy had vanished right before his eyes, leaving him as stunned as the woman before had been. He nervously started to look around and noticed that people were beginning to arrive on the street. A car here and there as well. Had there been a barrier preventing them from entering the area? If so, why had he been able to breach it?

He paced around the area for a few minutes, letting these thoughts bubble in his mind, wondering more and more what was going on. 

He tried calling Kazuya, but as he expected, his phone was out of range. 

He shrugged. The other had told him to wait but he was taking his sweet time to come back. He paced on the street a bit before is impatience got the better of him. He had been waiting around for ten minutes for something he didn’t understand. 

It was like studying for math all over again. You do it, but you don’t understand a fucking thing about it. 

His stomach was what made him abandon all hope. He was hungry and he really wanted his burger.

He decided to put it all behind him, accepting that somehow he always ran into Kazuya wherever he went, that he couldn’t run away from the crazy in his life. 

Upon entering the restaurant, a man guided him to a table for one and he sat down, ordered, and patiently waited for his food to arrive by looking through the newspaper that was on his table. 

A shift in the air in front of him made him set his newspaper along with his glass of water down. “You’re still here,” he said, un-amused by the situation at hand. Someone had decided to sit themselves down at _his_ table.

“Of course. I told you I'd be right back,” a smiling Kazuya said from the other side of the table. 

“You were gone for ten minutes,” Jin hissed back.

“Dude, it’s time travel what do you expect,” he said, friendlier than ever.

Jin was about to protest, to tell the kid that _yeah, that’s kinda why you can go wherever you want._ but he was interrupted by the waiter arriving with his burger. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t think someone else would be here, would you like a menu sir?”

“No need. I’ll have what he’s having,” Kazuya told the other with a smile. “So, I remember now. We’ve met before, a long time ago.”

“Speak for yourself,” Jin said with a scoff. “It’s been two months for me, you know.” 

“Meh.” Kazuya raised his shoulders and smiled. “It’s work, I got used to it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jin whispered, his voice filled with angst. “I’ve been wondering for a month if I was crazy or not. No, wait, I still fucking am! I’m at the point of considering that this is all in my head, that I’m a mental patient or something.” He smashed one of his fries into ketchup, brutally killing it before stuffing it into his mouth. “Jeez.”

“Well they couldn’t let you remember, especially since I’m apparently still in your present.”

“So what.” He took a bite of his burger, not caring if he was talking at the same time. “This time no one is erasing my memories?”

Kazuya laughed and leaned back on his chair as the waiter placed silverware in front of him, along with his glass of water. “We’re good as long as no one finds out.”

“Oh good. _More_ secrets.” Jin shrugged. “I knew you were hiding something from me. I could feel it.”

“Hiding something from you?”

“Never mind, it’s your future, I’m not telling you anything.”

The boy laughed. “What happened 8 years ago? I was in training, I couldn’t be on my own. That’s why someone picked me up. I had lost my mentor and my watch was busted. Now I’m the real deal.” He bit down on a fry and smiled at Jin.

“8 years ago? So you’re what? 21 now?.

“Ding ding ding! Wow, this must be weird for you.”

Jin glared at the kid from over his delicious burger. “Weird is an understatement kid.” He took a bite of his burger. “You are turning my life upside-down and now in the fun way.”

“What’s the fun way?”

Jin stopped mid-bite, thinking about what his words actually meant and felt a blush creep onto his skin. “Never mind,” he told the kid. 

_He’ll find out eventually._

He chuckled and the kid pursed his lips out with annoyance.

“So how’s it like,” the kid started. “Knowing everything about me but knowing that I don’t know a single thing about you.” He leaned back as the waiter placed his plate in front of him and he smiled, licking his lips upon seeing the big golden fries.

“You used the word “know” three times in one sentence,” Jin said as he chewed, remembering how Kazuya always noticed when he used the same word too much and feeling that this time, it was his turn to criticise. The boy’s mouth dropped open and Jin couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. Though upon thinking about the question, the only word that came into Jin’s mind was _odd_. “I’m still trying to grasp the idea of time travel,” he said, taking a few fries between his fingers. “I still think I’m mad,” he admitted. “Why are you here?” he asked with a frown, flailing his fry in front of him in Kazuya’s general direction.

“Me?” Kazuya pointed himself with the tip of his index.

“Who else,” Jin answered in a neutral voice. “Why did you come back to meet me after...what happened?”

“I was curious, I guess. I’ve seen you around too. It seems every place I go, you’re there. Somehow, we’re linked, I want to know why.”

“Hm.” Jin ‘sipped his cola and sat back, looking at the kids features. He was similar to the one he had seen in the alley the day before. His hair was a tad longer and they were still auburn. Compared to his Kazuya he still had some weight to gain. He was 21 but he looked like a highschooler. Hell, he could probably pass for one. 

In front of him, Kazuya smiled shyly. “What’s wrong, what are you looking at?” he asked with a chuckle in his voice, looking down at his body before looking at Jin again. “Did I drop some ketchup?”

“Hm.” Jin crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Pardon my French but...What the fuck are you, like really? Why am I seeing you everywhere?”

The other laughed, taking the remaining fry off his plate and dipping it into Jin’s ketchup. “I’m human. Like you. Just...from the future.”

“Right the...Organization thing.”

“Mm.” Kazuya nodded and looked around. “Hey um, could we talk about this someplace else? It’s kinda top secret.”

“Sure. We’re near my place anyways.” 

Once they were done eating, Jin raised his hand to get the attention of the waiter, got the bill and paid.

For both of them.

Because apparently, Kazuya’s money wasn’t valid here (yet). 

So, after letting out a soft line of swears upon placing down twice as much money as he thought he would be doing when he decided to go out to eat, Jin guided Kazuya back to his place once more. 

“Wow, it’s like I remember it,” Kazuya said upon entering the apartment. “Granted, I didn’t stay long but it hasn’t changed. AND THE CHICKEN PAINTING,” he exclaimed upon arriving in the kitchen. “I LOVE THIS PAINTING”

“It’s just a painting,” Jin laughed as he headed towards his kitchen and poured water into the coffee machine.

Kazuya kept looking around as he took off his shoes, placing them down on the mat by the door, anxious to explore the place. “You know, we never get to go sight-seeing. As soon as we’re done with a job, we go home...we need an authorisation to live someplace other than our own time. And it’s not easy to get.”

“Seems complicated. The other day...I saw you with a man in the alley...right next to his place actually. Last week of April I think. You were talking about impars, what are those?”

“Impars?” Kazuya repeated as he pulled himself a chair to sit on around the kitchen table. “It’s the term we use for people that aren’t from the future,” he explained. “I hate using it, because Impar means inferior and you’re not inferior. We just live in different times.”

“So, what you’re telling me is...that Impars are to people from the future, what Muggles are to Witches and Wizards?” He placed a cup of coffee in front of the other man, along with milk and sugar and sat down.

Kazuya pulled the cup towards him but kept his gaze on Jin. “I’m afraid I didn’t understand a word of what you just said. What’s a Mew-gle? Is that it?”

“Muggle? It’s the term they use in Harry Potter to define people who do not have magical abilities.”

“I’m sorry, what’s a Harry Potter?”

Jin sighed. “Never mind. I’ll have to show you, eventually. So, that explains impars. What else? Where does your cover story come from?”

“What cover story?”

“The one you’re using to cover up the fact that you’re a time traveler? That you’re a flight attendant?”

“ I haven’t gotten mine yet. We all get one at some point. Just in case you know? Wow flight attendant? Cool.”

“How does this whole job thing work, anyways? You’ve been at this since you were 13, didn’t you want to do something else when you were a kid?”

“Heavens no!” the boy said with a wide grin. “It’s an honor to be picked to be an agent of the 3Ts!”

“Picked?”

“Yeah. They recruit children at the age of ten and train them. You start following a mentor at 13 and at 20, if you’re ready, you become an official agent.”

Jin shifted uncomfortably on the chair, twirling his mug in his hands. “So, you do this until when? Can you settle down?” he asked nervously. 

“Well...I think we can quit when we want to...and like I said, you need an authorisation to live somewhere else than your own time, if that becomes the case...Papers need to be dealt with you know?”

“Hmm.” Jin took a sip of his coffee, feeling the air become heavier by the second. He had known Kazuya for four years, he knew everything about the man but when confronted by his 21 year old version, he had no clue where to start. What could he say and what was a no-no?

He cleared his throat. “I told you you’d start grooming your eyebrows,” he said, a chuckle escaping his lips. 

Kazuya brought a hand to his eyes and laughed as well. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“Hey, do you want to watch a movie?” 

“What did you have in mind?”

“The whole Harry Potter series.” Jin smiled and Kazuya couldn’t help but mimic it.

\--

“Should you be hanging out here so much?” Jin asked as he watched a 21 year old Kazuya place his shoes neatly on the mat near the door. “I mean, don’t you have work?”

“Jin, I’ve told you this before.” The man let himself fall on the couch next to Jin. “I can go back to whatever time I want. And I still do my job so they have nothing on me.” He smiled and threw his arms over the top of the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. “What are we watching today?”

Jin looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “You sure got cozy quick. You’ve only known me a month and you’re already freeloading.” 

He bit down on his lip nervously as he watched how Kazuya made himself at home. Without even knowing it, the boy was doing what Kazuya, the older Kazuya, always did when he got home after a long day. The only thing missing was -

“Hey,” the kid said, snapping Jin out of his train of thoughts. “Do you have any beer?”

Jin let out a soft chuckle, earning himself a confused gaze from the other. 

If he hadn’t already been 100% sure that the man on his couch was in fact the Kazuya, he would’ve had the proof right there. “Uh yeah,” he finally answered after staring for way too long. He cleared his throat and made his way towards his kitchen, leaving Kazuya alone in the living room with a slightly confused look on his face. “And we’re watching Star Wars, by the way,” he shouted, his head already in his fridge.

He let out a small sigh as his fingers closed around two bottles. Every time _his_ Kazuya left for work, this one appeared somewhere near him. Either at his door or at the bar he worked at. Sometimes, they would just bump into each other. Jin had concluded that the company Kazuya worked for always made sure that there was only one version of the agent they sent in the specified time. Two Kazuya’s at the same time would be impossible. 

And Jin knew that it could be bad. He had done his research on time travel and, granted there were many different _confusing as hell_ theories, but it all led to the same thing: don’t interact with yourself.

He loved spending time with the younger Kazuya but, at the same time, he felt like he was cheating, even though he wasn’t doing anything. 

He couldn’t help it. Kazuya was Kazuya. 21 or 26. 

He pulled the two beers out of the fridge and closed the door, jumping a bit when he came face to face with Kazuya. “Oh hey - I was just -” He backed up a bit, Kazuya’s gaze intimidating him just a wee bit. “What’s wrong?”

Kazuya took a step forward and Jin a step back again, until Jin was half-sitting on his dining room table, leaning back on his hands, the beers now next to him. “What’s wrong?” he repeated.

“I’ve seen how you look at me,” Kazuya whispered. “When you think I’m not looking. There’s a fine line between love and hate Jin, and I can’t tell on which side I’m on... Do I do something in the future that makes you hate me? Who am I to you? _What_ am I to you,” he stressed.

“I, um.” Jin swallowed. “No.”

“No what, Jin? The day we first saw each other, I could immediately see on your face that you knew me. You have a picture of me as well, where is it from?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Jin answered, looking everywhere except into Kazuya’s eyes. “I just can’t.”

“What do I do that’s so horrible Jin? Tell me! Tell me and I’ll be able to avoid it.”

“I can’t tell you Kazuya!” Jin snapped, now holding his breath as he stared into Kazuya’s eyes. He couldn’t tell him about his own future, right?

“Who the _fuck_ am I to you Jin,” Kazuya repeated, stressing out each word as much as possible, his nostrils flaring with rage.

“You wanna know who you are to me Kazuya? You _really_ wanna know?” 

The air changed and suddenly, Kazuya wanted to leave. He had never heard Jin use this voice and it was scaring him to his core. Jin’s eyes had darkened and he was pushing him back with the tips of his fingers, back against the fridge. “There’s a fine line between love and hate, Kazuya,” the eldest repeated in a whisper against the other’s ear. “Are you sure you want to find out on which side you’re on?” A low chuckle escaped his lips, making the hairs on the back of Kazuya’s neck stand.

If it were up to him, Kazuya would have disappeared within the second. But with Jin so close, there was no way he could manage it without bringing him along. What had he gotten himself into?

“I asked you a question Kazuya,” Jin whispered. “Do you, or don’t you want to find out?”

Kazuya looked into Jin’s eyes one last time before answering. “Just tell me already,” he said, looking at the ground.

He was expecting Jin to tell him to bugger off, to tell him to leave his place and never come back. That’s what they all said at some point, he was always left alone. He had no one to depend on but himself and his job.

After his father had left his mother, she had done her best to raise him, but a year later, she had fallen ill and she had left him for a better place. Well, that’s what the doctors had always told him. 

He changed family many times after that. He had always yearned to be loved again, to be accepted. But every time he thought he had found the one family that would care for him, they decided that they didn’t want him anymore and he was thrown into another direction. His childhood had taught him never to get too attached, that in the end, he would get hurt.

Like many of the other agents, The Time Turners had taken him in at the age of 10. Since that time, Kazuya had trained with them and he had found a new family in them. But even so, like any other job, people came and left. In the end, he was always alone. The only constant presence in his life had been his mother and his mentor...and now Jin.

According to Jin, Kazuya had been visiting for a month. He was not wrong, but in Kazuya’s time, it had been 4 months. He had taken it slow at first but, with time, he had grown fond of the man and his weird habits. He just couldn’t shake the thought that Jin was hiding something from him. He knew that Jin knew him, an older him from the future, but he didn’t know who he was to him and it made him want to keep his distances.

That’s why he hadn’t expected Jin to grab him by the back of his neck and press a kiss right beneath his ear. He wasn’t expecting Jin to whisper sweet words that took his breath away. He wasn’t expecting anything else other than pain.

“I love you, Kazuya. I have loved you for four years now,” Jin whispered against the moist spot of Kazuya’s neck, his right hand making its way into the boy’s hair and his left circling his waist. “I understand if you tell me that you’re scared, but you wanted the truth, so here it is: I love you,” he repeated. 

As Jin backed up a bit Kazuya immediately brought a hand up to his neck, his skin still tingling where Jin had kissed him. “I um, no, I just...wasn’t expecting it, is all,” he said with a shy smile creeping up his face. “I thought you were going to tell me to leave.”

“I would never, ever...tell you to leave.” Jin took Kazuya’s free hand in his own and stroked it with his thumb, looking down at the other with caring eyes. “If you want to stay here, with me, you can.”

“I think...I want to stay here,” Kazuya whispered, tilting his head up just a bit his lips brushing against Jin’s, his hands finding themselves on the other man, on his back, on his chest, then in his hair. “With you,” he added, closing the distance left between them. 

Jin brought the younger man closer and lifted him up by sliding an arm beneath his buttocks. Kazuya yelped with surprise but smiled as he held onto Jin with his legs, his arms around his neck. 

\--

_”Have you ever done this before?” Jin whispered as he placed kisses along Kazuya’s neck._

_“What?” the other chuckled. “Sex?” He chuckled again as Jin’s fingers on his hips sent shivers down his spine._

_“Yeah well, I mean, with a man,” Jin specified, now looking directly into the other’s eyes._

_“I have, yeah.”_

_“And um.” He cleared his throat. “How was it?” He bit down on the inside of his lip, feeling a blush creep onto his face._

_“It was amazing, Jin. And I’m sure that it’ll be amazing tonight as well. Now come here baby, you’re making me crazy.”_

\--

“Have you ever done this before?” Kazuya whispered, his voice almost cracking with nervosity, Jin hovering over him, his legs on both sides of his hips. 

“What?” Jin chuckled, placing a kiss on Kazuya’s neck where he knew the other liked it. “Sex?”

“Yeah well, I mean, with a man,” Kazuya repeated, looking straight into Jin’s eyes, holding his breath as he waited for the answer.

“I have, yeah.”

Kazuya exhaled slowly, feeling his chest tighten. “And how was it?” He felt like such a newbie, asking these basic questions. Obviously, he was a newbie but still. 

“I was amazing, Kazuya. One day, you’ll see.” He leaned down and kissed along Kazuya’s nape again, his hand sliding under his shirt. 

“Wh-what do you mean: _one day I’ll see?_ ” he repeated, mimicking Jin’s voice a bit. “You’re making it sound like what we’re about to do won’t be amazing.”

“Spoilers” Jin laughed at the confusion that was on Kazuya’s face but didn’t add anything more to it, he simply slid his fingers on Kazuya’s skin, knowing too well where he was sensitive or not.

~

Another month passed and Jin couldn’t be more confused. He had two Kazuyas to deal with and even though they were actually the same person, they were different in many ways. Physically, the younger one was still thinner and his hair was longer but with time, that would change. He was also missing the scar that the eldest had on his back. A scar that he had always refused to explain because it brought back too many horrible memories. Jin had managed to make him promise to tell him one day but he was still waiting on that promise. 

Jin enjoyed the company of both but his mind never got a rest. One morning he was with the 21 year old Kazuya and when night came, the one that came home was the 26 year old. He tried to see if there was a pattern but, other than the fact that they were never here at the same time, there was none. Sometimes, the younger one stayed for a few days and sometimes it was only for a few hours. Either way, he almost always had one of the two Kazuyas with him.

~

Hearing Kazuya say “I got you something” wasn’t the most surprising thing Jin had witnessed one morning. After waking up, they had made themselves breakfast and Jin had taken a quick shower as Kazuya watched the food in the oven. When he walked out of the bathroom, a towel still resting on his wet hair, Kazuya was smiling at him, plates all set on the table. 

“Why is your hair suddenly darker?” Jin immediately asked in a confused tone as Kazuya ran a hand threw his hair. “I swear it was auburn and shorter when we woke up.”

The younger boy chuckled and stepped forward. “I got you something,” he said, ignoring Jin’s question and taking a small box out of his pocket. “I went to get it earlier this morning, I thought it would be a good idea.”

“What do you mean _earlier_ it’s not even 9:30.” Jin took the box and turned it in his hands, inspecting it’s every side. He looked back up at Kazuya and he couldn’t help but ask again. “Why is your hair different?” he repeated. 

The 21 year old rolled his eyes but laughed nonetheless. “I changed it, Ok? While your present was being made.” He rolled his eyes again, knowing full well that he would probably be doing it again a few more times during the day. “While you were in the shower, I went back home to buy this. I’ve actually been gone for half a day but I came back just in time to check the oven." He laughed. “Doesn’t it make me look older?” he asked, gesturing his hair.

Jin hesitantly lifted a hand and stroked Kazuya’s hair. “It does, actually.” He smiled. The kid looked more and more like his Kazuya with each passing day. “Your face looks fuller too.”

“That’s because you make me eat for two.” Kazuya pouted, puffing out his cheeks a bit. “Now open your gift Bakanishi!”

“Fine fine fine.” Jin fiddled with the ribbon for a few seconds before actually getting scissors to cut it, earning himself a laugh from Kazuya along with a “You can’t even rip a ribbon apart?” comment that he decided to ignore. 

After tearing the paper away, he opened a box and found two small rings. One was white gold and the other was yellow gold. “You choose the one you want first,” Kazuya said to him. He hesitated for a few seconds before settling on the white gold one. 

“Isn’t it a bit small?” Jin said with a chuckle, holding up the ring with his thumb and middle finger. “Wait, are you proposing? is this what this is? You’re supposed to get down on one knee.”

Kazuya laughed at the remark and took the yellow gold ring out of the box. “It’s for your pinky silly,” he said as he slid his on his left pinky. “I thought it would be a good idea.”

Jin let his eyes fall on the boy’s left hand and he took it into his. “I’ve seen you wear this...you never take it off. You never told me what it meant either.” He laughed. “I guess that now I know.” He lifted Kazuya’s hand up and placed a kiss on it.

“I figured...when you’re ready, you can wear it in front of me, the older me, so I’ll know that you know...because I’m guessing you’ve kept secret about all of this.” 

“Touché.” Jin slid the ring onto his right pinky and looked at it, getting a feel of it. “I don’t know what I’m scared of though...he’s obviously been through all of this with me already, right?”

“I guess...but I don’t keep track of the years or the months. I change zones too much and I get confused easily.” Kazuya laughed. “So, when you’re ready...wear it and he’ll know that you know about all of this, about the future.”

Jin approached Kazuya and took him in his arms, earning himself an “oomph” but seconds later, Kazuya had his arms around him as well. “Hey, if I had asked, would you have said yes?” Kazuya asked, his face still pressed against Jin’s shoulders. 

Before he got his answer, his felt Jin’s chest rattle with laughter and the older man simply said “spoilers Love.” He made a whining sound but didn’t push it. He didn’t want to know about his future, even though he was curious as hell. 

That same night, Kazuya had to leave for a mission. Jin could’ve guessed anyways, considering he had to go get his Kazuya at the airport. He still wondered what all of that was about. He had asked the younger Kazuya but he didn’t know what the airport thing meant. 

After hours of thinking, and upon arriving at the airport 4 hours in advance, Jin figured that he wanted Kazuya to know that he knew about all of this, that he was ready to talk about whatever his life was like. 

So he slipped his ring on and looked at it for what seemed to be an eternity. What made him look up was a pair of familiar feet in his field of view. He knew whose feet they were and when he looked up, he couldn’t help but smile brightly. He had been a week without _his_ Kazuya and he had missed the crap out of him. 

“Hey babe,” he whispered as he placed a few kisses on his face. First on the cheek, then on the nose and finally one on the lips.

“I missed you too Jin,” the youngest laughed, dropping his bags and hugging Jin back. 

As soon as they had let go, Jin took Kazuya’s left hand in his right and passed his thumb Kazuya’s left pinky. “I’m ready to talk now, when you are. I know everything.” 

“Glad to hear that Jin… and that means you cheated on me.” 

Jin’s mind went into overdrive and his mouth dropped. He had felt so at ease with the younger Kazuya that he hadn’t actually thought about that part, about how Kazuya...his Kazuya...would react to all of that. In his head, Kazuya was Kazuya, whatever the age...but obviously, he _had_ cheated...even though it was with his own boyfriend... but cheating was cheating, right? Right?! 

He had been in this mess for a few months and his mind still didn’t comprehend the situation.

“Jin, I’m joking! I’m sorry! You do know that I’ve known for a long time right? They day I met you, I already knew, Jin.” Kazuya placed a hand on Jin’s cheek and it immediately softened his facial features. “Babe, it’s alright. Now we know everything.” He chuckled

“Yeah…” Jin let out a soft chuckle. “But...isn’t it weird? That somehow...my first time with...a guy...was with you, while you already had experience...but at the same time…your first time was with me as well...it’s super confusing.”

“Confusing?” Kazuya laughed, handing Jin one of his bags. “Confusing was when I wasn’t sure how you felt about me. Now that was confusing”

“Hey wait.” Jin stopped dead in his tracks and Kazuya turned to face him. “If you met me when you were 21 and I was 27 and it was 2014, why did I meet you when you were 22 and I was 24 and it was 2010?”

“Because of the fact that I know you’re going to see my younger self a few more times, I can’t tell this to you Jin. I’m sorry. It’s one of the last secrets I have to keep from you,” he said, placing his free hand on Jin’s cheek. 

“Like how you got your scar?”

“Like how I got my scar,” he repeated. “It’ll be over soon, I promise. No more secrets”

It wasn’t until they were in the car that Jin finally spoke up again. “What’s up with the airline?” he asked as he closed the trunk of the car. 

“Oh.” Kazuya started to chuckle. “Yeah that. I’m not _really_ a flight attendant. It’s out cover story, for when we need a story to tell the...muggles.”

Upon hearing the word, Jin couldn’t help himself and glomped Kazuya without warning. “It is so good to hear you understand my stupid geeky references.”

Kazuya laughed at the attack. “Jin, you’re the one that showed me all of your geeky movies, of course I know them.”

Jin sat back in his seat and turn the key in the ignition. “I love how my life somehow makes sense now. At least I don’t think I’m crazy anymore.”

“Who says you’re not crazy?” Kazuya laughed, earning himself a few pokes from the other. “Any other questions while we’re at it?”

“When I called you while you were on a mission... and you answered, were you really in the places that you said you were?”

“I was, actually. Like when I was in Halifax, they needed a Japanese translator so I went there to help. Same for Paris and all the other places. When I couldn’t answer, it was because I wasn’t in the right time...Come on, anything harder to answer?” he dared Jin.

“None that I can think of at the moment,” the other answered. “Well, yeah. Is it dangerous? What you do? I’ve never asked your younger self before.”

“I won’t lie to you Jin, it’s pretty dangerous...I mean, I go after illegal time travelers. I’m in a special organization. I have a training that the police force here doesn’t have. But when I think about coming home to good ‘ol 2014 and to you, I’m careful.” He slid his hand behind Jin’s neck, caressing his hair as he drove.

“Does it have anything to do with you scar?” Jin hesitantly asked, keeping his eyes on the road. 

“It does, actually,” he simply answered, his voice low and sad. “Hey, what month is it?”

“You really don’t keep track of time, do you?”

Kazuya laughed. “Time is only a notion. We tend to only manipulate it.”

“Right right,” he laughed. “It’s July. Remember? My birthday was two weeks ago.”

“Oh right! I remember. We celebrated.”

“Yeah. I had cake _twice_. I’ve only known your 21 year old self for two months and he remembered.”

“Wow, still July. You know, I’ve actually been gone for 3 months. I missed the hell out of you Jin.” He placed his hand on Jin’s thigh and tightened his grip, making sure he was getting his point across.

“Now behave you,” Jin laughed, not making a move to push Kazuya’s hand away. “You know...you could’ve told me from the start, where you were from and all.”

“If you think about it...I did tell you. When I was 21. Well, you guessed it. But I fucked up and I couldn’t turn back.”

“You fucked up?” He braked at the red light and looked at the other. “How?”

“Spoilers~ “ Kazuya giggled. “I can’t tell you much but it’s part of the reason why you met me in 2010 in the first place.”

“Will I know soon?”

“I think so.” Kazuya smiled and leaned against the window of the car, watching the birds fly high in the sky. There was still so much he wanted to tell Jin but he couldn’t. 

They didn’t speak for a few minutes, a lingering silence in the air that neither of them wanted to break. It was only when they entered the city that Kazuya spoke up again, his eyes still fixed on the clouds. 

“Hey Jin?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Promise me something will ya?”

“Anything.”

“Whatever happens...don’t do anything stupid, ok?”

Jin let out a little laugh and looked at Kazuya, who was turned in the opposite direction to avoid his gaze. “What do you mean _don’t do anything stupid_? You make it seem like something big is going to happen.” When Kazuya didn’t answer, he placed a soothing hand on the nape of the boy’s head and grazed his thumb under his ear, feeling the steady pulse of Kazuya’s heart against it. “Hey, talk to me,” he asked sweetly, his eyes still on the road. 

Instinctively, Kazuya turned his face into Jin’s hand, and he closed his eyes again. Jin did this gesture every time that he knew Kazuya was nervous about something. And somehow, it helped him relax. “You’ll understand when it happens...I can’t say anything more...my supervisors are already pretty mad at me for coming here so often.” He chuckled softly. “I just can’t help myself.”

\--

“Honey, I’m home!” 

Jin chuckled at the calling but didn’t turn around from where he was standing in the kitchen. He didn’t even need to guess which Kazuya had entered his apartment. His Kazuya, the 26 year old version, had left 2 days ago so, because of his job, it wasn’t impossible for him to be back already, but considering how laid back the greeting had been, Jin knew that it was the youngest of the two. 

“It’s been a while,” he said as he rubbed a dry cloth against the wet dish he was holding, then placing it in the drying rack next to the sink, plunging his hand into the water once more. “A month maybe -- oumf” He let out a small laugh as two arms circled around his waist, and an other body made contact with his, probably in a more violent way than it was first intended.

“I missed you,” the boy said, his cheek against Jin’s back. “They had me on missions all over the place and I couldn’t find the time to come back to you. Every time I wanted to come see you, _I_ was already there.”

“Yeah. You’ve been spending more time here. YOU even told me that your superiors were getting kind of nosy about it.” He placed the rag down and turned around in Kazuya’s arms, hooking his own around the other. “I missed you too. It’s good to have you back.”

Kazuya smiled up at him and placed a kiss on Jin’s lips before setting the man free from his grasp and grabbing a dish to dry. 

“You still have that shirt?” Jin laughed as he noticed the baseball shirt Kazuya was wearing. It was in fact the one he had given him on the night they first met. 

Kazuya looked at himself and then back at Jin. “Oh. Yeah.” He let out a small laugh. “When I got home the first night...I washed it and it ended up in my room somewhere...I found it again a few years ago and it fits me now so I started to wear it more.”

Jin passed his thumb against the t-shirt and let his hand slide under it. “You know, funny story actually, you’re wearing one of your own shirts… When I told you this was my roommates...I meant that it was actually yours.” He laughed. “I can’t believe how mind-blowing this whole experience has been. I still can’t wrap my mind around it. How can you not go crazy from all this time travelling? I would be going mad!”

“Well…” Kazuya placed the final dish in the rack and pulled the plug to drain the water from the sink. He then placed both of his hands on Jin’s hips and pulled him closer. “I have something that keeps me grounded...something to go back for.”

“Like in Inception? I’m like, your totem that keeps you sane?”

Kazuya tilted his head to the side and stared at Jin for a few seconds. “Inception…” he repeated. “Did I see that? You made me watch a lot of movies.”

“You did, you did see Inception.” He kept on sliding his hand on Kazuya’s bare back. “You even said you liked it.”

“Did I?” Jin nodded and Kazuya smiled. “I say many things to make you happy.”

“Oh~ I like where this is heading.” Jin brought a hand to the boys neck and passed his fingers through Kazuya’s hair, their lips barely brushing. “By the way, I wore the ring the other day, in your well...not your your but you know, your presence.” 

“And…?”

Jin laughed at Kazuya’s nervous expression, placing a kiss on the pink pouty lips. “It all went really well...not that I was expecting you to make a scene or anything...I’m just happy it’s all cleared up.”

“Hey Jin,” the boy whispered between kisses. “Do you want to go out for dinner and maybe a movie?”

“I’d love that.”

“And I love you,” the younger spurted out, realizing what he had said as the words slipped out of his mouth and he held his breath, his lips tightly sealed.

Jin leaned back, his hands now cupping Kazuya’s face, and he smiled. The boy had an expression that anyone could read: his eyes were wide and glossy and screamed panic. The small blush that had spread onto his face wasn’t helping his situation either.. “I love you too, but you already knew that.” He pressed a kiss on Kazuya’s nose. “You can breath you know?” He laughed. “You’re turning purple.”

“I‘m sorry,” Kazuya muttered. “That just came out of nowhere… I knew I wanted to say it to you but I didn’t know how to formulate it and how to make it all romantic and not cheesy but I couldn’t hold it in anymore and I’m sorry if it wasn’t the declaration you were expecting.” Once again, he hold his breath his eyes big and searching, watching Jin’s every move. 

The other man didn’t utter a word. He simply kissed the other again and again and again, finally making all of Kazuya’s stress melt away until he was putty in his hands. “Now. How about that dinner?” Jin smiled, his lips still against Kazuya’s.

The other smiled into the kiss, allowing himself to melt in Jin’s hold as he nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered, his breath tickling the wet spots that were around Jin’s lips. “I’m starving,” he admitted.

\--

The summer lights were hanging high in the roads of Tokyo. Festivals were coming up and the decorations were lovely. The streets were buzzing with activities and people were happy to be out. For Jin, the best part was seeing Kazuya’s face light up every time he saw something impressive. It was even brighter than the moon itself. Kazuya was like a kid seeing his first snow and Jin couldn’t get enough of it. Sure, his Kazuya still got impressed by things but not as much as this one. 

“Wow! The Tokyo Tower!” the boy exclaimed, pulling Jin along with him by the hand. “Wow I never thought I would get to see it in real!” He turned to Jin and flashed him his best smile and Jin couldn’t help but laugh, letting himself be pulled around the area like a parent being pulled by a child. 

“What do you mean? What happened to the Tokyo Tower?”

“Well um.” Kazuya stopped walking but kept Jin’s hand in his. “It happened in….2168 I think. Huge earthquake and most of Tokyo fell. The Sky Tree had been reinforced in 2100 but not the Tokyo Tower. So after the big earthquake, Tokyo was re-built, stronger and better, keeping as many landmarks as possible and it was re-named New Tokyo.”

“Huh. New Tokyo?” Kazuya nodded. “What does it look like?”

Instead of answering, Kazuya smiled and pulled on Jin’s hand, leading him towards the tower. “Come, I’ll show you.”

“Am I paying again?” Jin said in a whine, not making any effort to stay behind. When Kazuya didn’t answer, he sighed and took out his wallet. 

Once they were at the highest of the two observatories, Kazuya led Jin to the windows. “Stand here,” he said, placing Jin face towards the windows. “Everything you see here changes. It was a hell of a task to re-build but it really brought the people together.”

“Kinda like after the tsunami of 2011…” Jin muttered, trying to imagine a different Tokyo than the one that he had seen his whole life. He knew that he wouldn’t be there when it would happen but he could still feel a pinch to his heart, thinking about all of the people that would lose their families. 

“The buildings tower even higher now and they look way more modern than these ones,” Kazuya explained, guiding Jin by the hips to the window that led to the view of the Sky Tree. “The Sky Tree stays the same and some buildings around it survived. I don’t know much more...I only read about this in books and saw a hologram of everything.”

“Hologram?” Jin turned around, just a little bit to stare at the other, an eyebrow raised high on his forehead.

“Well...it’s what the cameras caught. Instead of films like you have now...we can put everything in three-dimensions and you don’t need glasses.”

“Huh.” Jin thought about it for a second, still wondering what the future was holding for all of them. What kind of technologies would there be in the years to come? They had gone a long way since the flip phones but he wasn’t able to come up with new ideas. 

He was brought out of his train of thoughts by a loud constant beeping. But when he looked around, he didn’t see anything. No one was reacting. Other than Kazuya that is: The boy was concentrated on his watch and Jin could hear him swear. “What’s wrong?” he asked, peeking over the boy’s shoulder, immediately seeing that the watch was glowing red. “Kazuya, what’s wrong?” he repeated.

“We have to leave,” the boy answered, his head shooting up. Jin didn’t question it for a second. The urgency in the other’s eyes was obvious and he could feel that they were in danger. He just didn’t know why. 

He let Kazuya guide him to the stairs and they practically jumped down every step until they reached the first floor. Kazuya began to frantically look around him, whispering things that Jin didn’t quite understand, things that didn’t make any sense. “Shit, this way.” He said, urging Jin to follow him through the crowd, apologizing here and there to the people that they hit as they passed. 

It wasn’t until they reached a metro entrance that Kazuya finally took the time to breath, still watching his surroundings, expecting something to pop out any second. “We have to get to your placeh” He quickly said to Jin, pressing buttons on his watch again. “Agent 2 2 0 2 0 2 2 3 dash 0 1, we have a problem.”

_”What is your location?”_ a man’s disembodied voice asked. 

“2014, august…” He looked at Jin, his eyes wide and his tone expecting. 

“20,” Jin answered, knowing full well what was expected of him. 

“20. August 20, Tokyo,” Kazuya repeated. “We have some illegal travellers in the areas. I think it may be Shayne. He’s been on my radar for a few months now. I think he’s following me...” 

_We’ll send you some help. Stay put and stay hidden agent.”_

A flash of blue light later and Kazuya was grabbing Jin’s hand, guiding him back towards the house. “It’s not safe here for you.” 

“For me?” Jin let out a nervous laugh, catching up to the boy so he wouldn’t have to be dragged more than he had too. “Kazuya what’s happening.” It wasn’t a question anymore, it was a demand. He needed answers.

“Shayne. Shayne is happening,” Kazuya simply said, as if Jin would immediately understand. “He’s a murderer. He goes from period to period, year to year, trying to find agents like me. I have no idea how he does it but I’ve lost a few friends because of him. He needs to be stopped and it’s ending tonight,” he hissed, his eyes filled with rage. 

Jin ran a few steps to get in front of the boy and placed his hands on his shoulders, preventing him from going any further. “I’m not letting you do this alone, Kazuya,” he said, as calmly as possible, staring straight into Kazuya’s eyes. 

“And I’m not letting you get in the middle of this, Jin,” Kazuya said back, his gaze just as intense as Jin’s. “Maybe it’s best if you leave me alone with this. I’ll come to you when it’s over,” he whispered. 

“What are you going to do? Whatever it is, I’m not leaving you alone.”

_Was this what Kazuya had meant when he had said not to do anything stupid? Was this what was going to lead to the scar? If by doing something stupid he meant trying to help out the best he could, then Jin decided that he would be doing something stupid. What the hell, right? Right._

Kazuya bit down on his lip and Jin could see that he was trembling. He couldn’t tell if it was from rage or fright but he knew that he wasn’t leaving. “Come with me, I know a place to lay low.”

Kazuya gave Jin a small nod and held onto his hand as they exited the alley. His watch was still glowing in fast blue pulse. “Does it mean that he’s getting close?” Jin asked, his voice unsteady. 

“Ding ding ding,” Kazuya answered, his voice lacking emotion altogether. He kept looking back and forth between the watch and Jin, wondering when they would get to destination. “Where are we going Jin?” 

“A friend of mine lives nearby,” he answered. “We’re almost there. It’s close.”

_“Closer than me?”_

“Shayne,” Kazuya whispered, feeling his stomach drop as he turned around to face the owner of the voice.

A man well in his thirties was standing behind Kazuya, short brown hair that was up in small spikes on his head and eyes as green as it was humanly possible. He stood well over 6 feet tall and he had the build to go with it. Large shoulders, long legs and ready to move. He had freckles scattered over the bridge of his nose and a few scars here and there. After all, he had been on the run for many years now, he _had_ gotten into many fights.

Jin grabbed Kazuya by the shoulders and pulled him back away from Shayne, taking his hand and sprinting away. 

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere, Kazuya,” the man said, following them as they cut corners to try and lose him. “You’ve been on my list for a while now, fast one, aren’t you?” 

His laugh bounced off the brick walls and followed them wherever they went. Somehow, he was everywhere around them. He was in front of them, behind them and sometimes above them.

Kazuya tried not to listen. He followed Jin through the alleys and blocked out every incoming sounds. They were running in circles, they weren’t getting anywhere. 

They stopped running but Jin couldn’t stop looking around. He felt far from safe and without Kazuya’s cooperation, they would get nowhere. 

“How is he doing that?!” Jin said frantically, looking over his shoulder to see if they had been followed or not.

“He has watch like me…But he can manipulate closer periods of time. It’s actually illegal.”

“You mean he has a vortex manipulator?” Jin tried, peering around the corner of the alley. He looked behind them one last time before he took Kazuya’s hand in his and pulled him into the busy street, hoping the people would provide them with some cover.

“Vortex manipulator?” Kazuya repeated, cocking his head to the side in confusion. 

Jin turned his body, just a little bit, as he passed between two people and smiled at Kazuya. “Yeah. Like Captain Jack Harkness has.”

Upon understanding Jin’s explanation, Kazuya could only groan. “Really Jin? A Doctor Who reference, now?” he said with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“What?! I say stupid things when I’m stressed and well, i’m stressed...and agitated.”

Kazuya rolled his eyes and kept following Jin through the crowd of people, feeling intimidated by the current situation. He didn’t know how to handle it on his own. He was pissed off and trapped. If he went somewhere, Shayne would know and he wouldn’t stop following him. This was never going to end. He had to wait for help but he was uneasy about running away. 

Hell, Shayne had followed him here, that was bad enough. Kazuya needed to stay on his toes just in case Shayne decided to attack but his watch was throwing him in 10 different directions at the same time. One moment it was flashing and the other it wasn’t. He knew that the enemy was near, that he was always near. His backup would be here soon, in fact they were probably already there and looking for them but he couldn’t stay put. 

He gulped as they progressed in the street but he couldn’t compose himself any longer. He was open to any kind of attack. All of his training had been for nothing. Some agent he was, scared at the first big encounter he had. Pathetic. That’s what he was. 

\--

Kazuya knew that that he needed to be alert but his body was blacking out on him. His heart was racing in his chest and the only thing he could hear was a high pitched ringing. He could see Jin’s lips moving but no sound was getting through. It was over. He had screwed up. Big time. 

His watch had never got this fast before. The light was flashing and he didn’t know what to do. The last thing he was aware of was a cold hand on his shoulder accompanied by a foreign breath on the back of his neck, Jin’s features going from scared to terrorized and then a burn in his chest. His vision was darkening, and his senses were all over the place.. 

“Didn’t you miss me, you bastard?”

\--

Jin was screaming out of rage as he saw Shayne, his face scrunched up, place a hand on Kazuya’s shoulder. What came next was the sound of his blade penetrating Kazuya’s back and the small whimper that came with it. The furious sneer that Shayne was wearing on his face turned into a twisted smile as he whispered something into Kazuya’s ear, something that he couldn’t hear, before he pushed Kazuya forward, onto Jin, who caught him with no effort.

“No no no no no,” he whispered, terrified by the look Kazuya was giving him. Jin’s heart was slowly dropping to his stomach as Kazuya wouldn’t react as he passed his hand on the boy’s face, clearing it of the sweat soaked strands. People kept passing by him, no one was stopping. 

How could this be happening to them? How on _Earth_ had they deserved this? Why? He watched as Shayne gave him a little wave before disappearing. He couldn’t believe it. His breath was coming out in small hectic puffs and his mind was getting overworked and he didn’t know what to do.

“It’s going to be ok,” he whispered into Kazuya’s hair, holding the boy close to him, rocking him back and forth. “I have you.” He chest rose as he took the biggest breath of his life and he closed his eyes. “I have you,” he repeated, again and again. 

“Jin, you have to let me go,” the boy said in a broken voice, barely loud enough for Jin to hear. “Please Jin, let me go.”

“Baby, I don’t understand.” Jin passed his hand along Kazuya’s cheek, feeling his cheeks becoming wetter and wetter by the second, feeling his eyes sting with rage and sorrow. “You’re going to be ok.” He placed a kiss on Kazuya’s temple and watched the boy’s life be drained out from him as he pulled back. 

“It’s ok, Jin,” the boy whispered, his eyelashes wet and his lips red. “It’s ok,” he repeated. “It doesn’t hurt, it’s ok, I’m ok.” Jin’s breath on his neck was the last thing Kazuya felt and Jin’s face was the last thing he saw before the darkness took over.

“Kazuya…” Jin bit down on his lower lip and on the insides of his mouth. He kept on stroking Kazuya’s cheek, smudging a drop of blood as he did.. “Please, Kazuya.” He hiccuped when the boy didn’t answer him anymore. The other’s eyes were still staring in his direction, but they weren’t looking at him directly. Not anymore. 

Jin passed his hand over the boy’s eyes and closed his eyelids, holding him close. 

_I should’ve listened to you_ he cried, tears prickling his eyes as he felt warm blood spew out of Kazuya’s back and onto his hand. _You told me not to do anything stupid. Fuck. You could’ve told me._

“Now I lost you forever,” he whispered into Kazuya’s neck, closing his eyes and holding the limp body close to him.

He knew how time travel worked. He knew that because Kazuya had just died in his arms, he wouldn’t see his Kazuya ever again. If the younger had died, how could the eldest live on?

\--

Jin was cold and his stomach was churning. He felt a tug in his insides but he didn’t open his eyes, he didn’t want to admit that everything was real, that what had had happened...had actually happened. He had lost. He had ignored Kazuya’s subtle warning and he had lost. 

It wasn’t until he noticed a drastic change of temperature that he realized he wasn’t outside anymore. He opened his eyes and squinted as a bright sun was blinding him through a window. 

_A window?!_

Jin gulped loudly, suddenly aware that he was inside a _building_ , up _high_ and that it was _day_ out. 

Still holding onto Kazuya’s cooling body, he dared to look out the window to see how high up he was exactly. 

_High enough_ , he concluded. 

He spotted the Sky Tree in the horizon and it finally dawned on him that he didn’t recognize any other building in the immediate area. 

“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Tokyo anymore,” he whispered.

**2223**

He was still holding onto Kazuya tightly when a door on the other side of the room was suddenly opened with a bang. A bang loud enough to scare him and to make him back away to the corner of the room, clutching onto Kazuya as much as he could. No one would take him away. No one.

“Who-Who are you?!” he asked the man and woman that had just came into the room. 

The pair looked at each other and then back at Jin. Both of them wore sleek black clothing and the only hint of color came from their watches. 

“Give him to us,” the man simply said, ignoring Jin’s question altogether.

Had it not been for the woman’s action, Jin would’ve thought the people were actually robots from the future.

But she surprised him: She hit her partners arm and bent down to talk with Jin at eye-level. “We’re here to help. Kazuya is back home now,” she explained. Jin flinched when she reached into her coat but relaxed as he saw what she was holding out: a simple white cloth. 

Hesitantly, he took it and wiped his face with it, and then Kazuya’s. “Who are you?” he repeated, his voice still hoarse from all the crying and screaming.

“We’re from the Agency,” she said. “I suppose you know about us, otherwise you wouldn’t be in this mess.” To that, Jin simply nodded. “We can help Kazuya. We have the technology.”

“But to help him, you need to give him to us,” the man said, his intense gaze steady on Jin. 

Jin looked back and forth between Kazuya and the two agents that were in the room anxious to a point where he was sweating. Everything was happening too fast. He had just lost Kazuya and they wanted him to let go. Already?

“What are you going to do with him?” he whispered dryly. 

“Follow us.”

Jin watched as the two turned their back on him and contemplated his options. A second later, he realized that he didn’t really have any choices. Where was he to go? He was all alone in an unknown version of Tokyo. 

He gathered up his courage and hoisted Kazuya into his arms, checking his surroundings as he exited the room. The two were waiting for him by the door and two other men were there as well. They walked in silence until they reached a white room at the end of the corridor and Jin was instructed to place Kazuya onto the medical table that was in the middle of the room.

He did so without questioning it but a second later, he was already regretting it as he was stripped of his coat and dragged out of the room with brute force. He thrashed and shouted but no one was listening to him. They ignored all of his questions and they ignored all of his cries. “Tell me what’s going on!” he shouted, hitting on the closed door of the room they had put him in. 

He paced around the room for a few minutes, gazing out the window every now and then before settling into a corner and holding his knees up to his chest. Panic was rising quickly in his chest and he had no idea what to do. What time was it? What day was it? 

Jin sat in silence until he couldn’t even tell how much time had passed. He had lost count after 8 hours. He hadn’t gotten any water or any food. No one was keeping him up to date on the situation. The blood on his shirt was starting to dry and smell was the most disgusting thing he had ever smelled. Maybe it was because it was Kazuya’s blood, maybe it was just the idea of blood that wasn’t his. 

At some point, when he opened his eyes again, a pitcher of water had been set in front of him along with a loaf of bread. He didn’t know when they had appeared but they had probably been there a while, considering how tapid the water was. But Jin wasn’t picky, especially in circumstances like this one where he hadn’t had a bit to eat in what seemed to be a week.

He ate and returned to his cold corner yet again, his glass of water shaking in his hand. He tried to think of other things than Kazuya but ultimately, it all led to fear. 

If he was in the future, that meant that he disappeared from 2014 and so he was missing, right? Meaning that all of his friends and family were looking for him. 

For a second, he regretted even meeting Kazuya. Without him he wouldn’tve had this much pain, without him he would be home. 

But a home without Kazuya wasn’t a home. Not anymore. 

A mix of anger and sadness shook his body once again and he gripped his glass, throwing it at the wall, making it shatter into hundreds of pieces.

“Get up,” a man’s low voice said.

Jin rose his gaze from his toes to the person that was standing at the door and bit down on the inside of his cheeks. He shakily stretched out his legs and prompted himself using the wall that was behind him. “Wh-What do you want?” he asked, his lips dry and chapped. He licked them, in hopes of getting a little bit of moisture into them but only tasted the salt that his tears had left on them. His throat hurt and his body was tired. He hadn’t spoken in days and he was severely dehydrated. 

Jin’s lower lip started to tremble as the man in black approached him. If he could, he would’ve sunk into the corner even more. He flinched when the man placed a hand on his forearm. He closed his eyes and waited for the man to speak but the words never came. The only thing he felt is a familiar tug in his stomach. A pulling sensation that he couldn’t quite explain. 

“Go home,” the man said, lacking of a tone completely. “You’re back.”

When Jin finally opened his eyes, peeking up through his bangs, he noticed that no one was near him. Only his coat was resting at his feet. 

He trailed his hand along the brick wall, blocking the sun from his eyes with his other arm. He proceeded to walk out of the alley and blended in with the people. 

Everywhere he looked, the buildings seemed familiar. Even the people, he could’ve sworn he had seen some before. He was back. He was in 2014 again. The man had brought him back. 

Jin patted the pockets of his jacket and found his phone, immediately opening it to check the date. He had been right: it was in fact 2014 and he was back.

According to his phone, it had only been two days. 

So sure, he was home, but what was he supposed to do? Where was he supposed to go? 

“I suppose home is a good place to start,” Jin whispered to himself. 

\--

Jin took a deep breath before finally reaching for his keys... going home to an empty apartment with Kazuya’s stuff still there waiting for him wasn’t something he was looking forward to. 

He was changing his mind, ready to turn around and crash at a friends place when he realized that his key wasn’t turning.. For some reason, the door was already unlocked. All thoughts of leaving were pushed away as he pressed down on the handle of his door and pushed it open.

Someone had been in his home.

Once the door was wide open, he took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for any type of situation. As far as he knew, the place could be ransacked or it could be tidy as hell. Had people came in to get rid of Kazuya’s stuff? 

Or...considering his passing, had his stuff disappeared? Time travel remained a mystery. 

Would only the things Kazuya had bought before his death stay? 

In any case, Jin was scared. He progressed slowly through the hallway, peering around the corner in case someone was still there. 

He wasn’t wrong. Someone was in fact in his living room, laying on _his_ couch. 

Said person had heard Jin come into the room and sat up to look at him. 

And from where Jin was standing, that person was as surprised as he was.

“Ka-Kazuya?” he let out in a whisper.

“Finally! I’ve been waiting for days!” Kazuya stood from the place he had been sitting on and threw his arms around Jin’s neck. “I’ve been so worried,” he said into Jin’s neck.

Jin lifted his hand and passed it along Kazuya’s face, taking in his features. “But you...you…” 

“I’ve got you Jin, I’ve got you. It’s all ok.”

“But you died?” Was it a question, or a statement? Jin wasn’t sure anymore. To think he thought that he had this all figured out. 

He brought his arms around Kazuya’s form and breathed in his scent, lifting him up off the floor ever so slightly. “I was so scared, I thought I lost you,” he whispered, his voice breaking up. “For a week...I was alone…” 

“So that’s what happened…” Kazuya began to pat Jin’s hair down, trying to ease him into the transition. “It’s ok,” he repeated. “They brought me back. I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”

“Wh-What about Shayne?”

“They caught him too. The night he…”

“Killed you?” Jin completed. 

“Yeah. The night he killed me. What happened Jin? After I mean.” 

Jin passed his hands on his face and sat down on the couch, trying to gather his thoughts into a few comprehensible sentences. “I um...Held onto you, right?” Kazuya nodded. “And we were brought to the future...where they kept me for a few days...I lost count.”

“They kept you?! What for?!”

“I...I don’t know...But...Kazuya...How did I end up in the future?”

The boy smiled and lifted his arm up so that Jin could see. “My watch,” he simply said. “When an agent is severely hurt, he’s brought back home to be healed.”

“Agent. Right. The...2 2 stuff.”

Kazuya let out a soft chuckle. “2 2 0 2 0 2 2 3 dash 0 1?” Jin nodded. “That’s my birthday. The 01 at the end is because I’m the first one.” Jin nodded and Kazuya couldn’t help but feel more and more concerned. “Are you alright?”

“You have to understand...I saw you die...less than a week ago Kazuya...This is all very weird...even after all we’ve been through together…” He grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it up just a bit. “This is still your blood and you’re...alive…I haven’t eaten properly in days...”

“Tell you what...Go get washed up and I’ll fix you something to eat.”

And to that, Jin couldn’t help but smile. Even if it was just a little bit.

“I love you,” he whispered, his lips brushing against Kazuya’s. 

“I love you too,” the other answered, getting up from the couch and heading towards the kitchen.

When Jin came out of the shower, he got dressed and looked at his reflexion in the mirror. He looked drained and sick. He took a deep breath and headed out, still half expecting to be alone in the apartment. When his eyes found Kazuya’s he was able to let out a sigh of relief and the took the other in his arms once again, setting down his head in the crook of the younger man’s neck.

“Are you ok?” Kazuya whispered sweetly into Jin’s ear.

“I am now that you’re here with me…”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to warn you properly...I couldn’t even say goodbye..”

Jin backed up a bit and leaned against the table. “What do you mean?”

Kazuya bit down on his lower lip and looked at the floor. “With Shayne...I don’t remember much...granted it was a while ago for me...but you won’t be seeing me again.” He lifted his gaze and saw how confused Jin was, his brows were low on his eyes and his arms were folded across his chest. “When you met me in 2010...I was coming back from this event. The one you just went through.”

“That explains why you were so confused…” Jin let out a small laugh and shook his head. “I thought you were either high or drunk.”

“Yeah well, I was just disoriented. But now...Now we both know everything. This is our present. For both of us. No more surprises.”

“No more surprises?” Jin repeated, a small smile creeping onto his lips. “I like that.” He placed his arms around Kazuya’s shoulders and brought him closer. “Not knowing what’s going to happen...how does that sound?”

Against Jin’s shoulder, Kazuya smiled. “It sounds really _really_ great.”

“How long have you been waiting here?”

“Two days… I think...I knew Shayne was arriving in these times so when I was able to come to 2014 I knew that it was because my younger self was gone and that you were gone with him. You didn’t listen to me. You did something stupid.”

Jin placed a soft kiss on Kazuya’s forehead before going to the fridge and getting out two cans of beer. “You mean let you go to the future by yourself? Sure those people would’ve saved you but I couldn’t just leave you, you know that.” 

Kazuya took the beer that was offered to him and opened it. “I know, but still. I wanted to spare you the experience… I wanted you to see the future with me...as a trip. Not in a circumstance like that one.”

The older man took a long swing of his beer and exhaled slowly. “True. But still. I would’ve gone crazy if I had just seen you disappear for no reason.”

“No need to worry anymore, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good. Because I don’t plan on letting you out of my sight.”

**2017**

“Jin, we have to talk.”

“What’s up?” Jin rose his eyes from the newspaper he had been reading and looked at Kazuya, who was standing in the doorway of their bedroom. His body language screamed angst and Jin knew that something was up. 

The way that Kazuya’s hands were intertwined together, the way he was avoiding Jin’s eyes, even the way his hair was falling in his face was different. _Felt_ different. 

“I...got a promotion at work,” the younger boy said, approaching Jin slowly.

A smile grew on Jin’s lips and he jumped out of the bed to glomp the other. “That’s amazing!” He nearly shouted, restraining himself from twirling the other. “Why the long face?” He pinched Kazuya’s chin in hopes of getting a smile out of the other but his hand got slapped away in a gently move.

“I’m going to be a mission supervisor,” Kazuya began to explain.

“Yeah, and that’s awesome!”

“Jin I’m going to have to stay in the same year...all the time. It’s kinda like...a supervisor for the year itself.”

Jin hesitantly let Kazuya go and looked at him, his features going from happy to serious. “You mean…”

“I won’t be travelling anymore…”

“Don’t tell me…” Jin let out a shaky breath and sat down on the bed, his eyes falling to the ground..

“I’m sorry Jin…” Kazuya whispered, taking Jin’s hands in his. “It means that you’re going to have to deal with me 24/7 starting next monday.”

A second later, Jin’s head shot up and what he found was the most uplifting face ever: the boy was smiling and it was the brightest smile he had yet to see in his life. “What?!” He nearly shrieked.

“I asked to be assigned to this time...to your time, and I got it. I’ll have official papers too. Meet Kamenashi Kazuya, born in 1988.”

“Holy shit!” Jin took Kazuya’s wrists and pulled him onto the bed, squishing him with all the love his body could currently produce. “That’s amazing!”

Beneath him, Kazuya laughed. “I know that time is just a notion, but I’ve decided to spend my time with you.”  
\--

“Hey...I never asked.”

“Hmm?”

“What did it feel like, coming up to talk to me at the bar, only to realize that I didn’t know you?”

“That, Jin, is a whole other story.”


End file.
